Issue 11: January 6, 2013 |
Happy New Year, everyone! This is ARG signing in with his first newsletter column in 2013. It may be a little late, but I’d like to take the opportunity to look back at 2012 and the great year we had, which was the first for our new fanon-centered newsletter. The first few months had some roughness in them, and saw the editor position passed around a few times. Like always, some times of year weren’t as active as others, but on the whole, this was a very active and exciting year. We had 58 fanonbending advancements, compared to 17 in 2011. We also had more fanon stories and reviews than any other year so far. I’ll be going though some of the major ups and downs we had for the White Lotus Sentinel and for the fanon portal in general.
Agent Appeal
The Goodbye Bandwagon
Hands-off Writers
The Rocks Departure
NEW YEAR'S SPECIAL: A Visual Definition
- by Minnichi :) Love the Fanon Urban Dictionary? Miss any definitions? See the complete collection here! | ||||||||
On January 7, 2012, in the Fanon Review Squad 2011 Review of the Year, BlackMonkey, Bahjy1, and Millennia2 announced that they had chosen me from a list of candidates to be the next reviewer on the squad. It was a proud moment of my Wikia career. I had tried once before to join the team and failed despite there not being any other applicants. I was new to Avatar Wiki, had written no blog posts, and had a fanon that was unread and unnoticed. Luckily, I didn't let that discouraged me, I tried again later when a spot opened up, and that time, I was successful. I immediately created my schedule and set out to fairly evaluate the many amazing fanons we have in this community. The best part for me? Being able to read story after story, diving into a completely different world every week, and meeting hundreds of exciting and unique characters. They say every book is a new adventure, and boy, I've sure been on a lot of adventures this past year. Unfortunately, my time in the FRS has come to an end. Now that school has begun again for the year, I have realized that my time is limited and that I must prioritize the time I spend on Avatar Wiki. I have decided that it is best or me to to remain editor of The White Lotus Sentinel, even if it means giving up my cherished position on the renowned Fanon Review Squad. It was an incredible year, and it's fun to look back at all the changes that have been made since I joined. Earlier, I mentioned the three users who voted to accept me into the group, and now, none of them remain. In fact, two of them are officially "Inactive" on the Wiki. This means that I am the most senior member on the Squad, and I am happy to say that once I leave, Mageddon725 will assume that title. I have come to respect and admire his reviewing style as well as those of Minnichi, and MibuWolf, and I have the utmost confidence that they will continue to make the Fanon Portal greater than it has ever been. Keep up the great work guys, I'll miss ya! This brings me to the second part of my goodbye. Although the three reviewers I am leaving behind are exceptionally talented and capable, it is extremely difficult to recruit new reviewer candidates, wait for their "test reviews," judge their test reviews, then discuss through email and IRC conversations who should be selected. We were already in the process of searching for another teammate when I announced my resignation, and although I insist that I need not be replaced, the rest of the squad might wish to add two new members, making the selection process even more difficult and time consuming. I usually don't ask for much, but as someone who may have read your entire fanon and spent a Sunday morning writing a review, I will beg for one favor: please make the job of the remaining reviewers easier and consider applying for the open spot(s). The benefits? Not only do you get a fancy userbox to put on your profile page, but you get to submit a review to this fantastic newsletter whenever you please… AND you have the opportunity to explore every corner of the Fanon Portal and read wonderful stories you otherwise may not have noticed. The most important thing, however, is that you, yes you, get to turn someone's fanon dream into a reality by publicizing their work and possibly delivering them a few readers. There is no greater feeling than knowing that your review gave an undiscovered fanon author the attention he/she deserved and the desire to continue writing instead of giving up.
A year? Already? I can’t believe it either. But January 9th marks the anniversary of my fanon, Air. (Annivers-air-y? Air-iversary? Too much? You’re probably right.) It must be time for acknowledgments and some shameless self-promotion. Mua ha ha. First, the promotional segment of our program: Conspiracies, intrigue, punny titles, running jokes, a play even worse than The Boy in the Iceberg, unconventional pair ups, a ‘Best Supporting Female Character’ and trouble in the Spirit World –this story has it all! What can I say about ‘Air’ that my readers already haven’t? It’s “…a beautiful expansion on a story [we all] loved.” Twelve years after the War, the old Gaang must reunite to travel the Earth Kingdom incognito in search of a rebel group who has done the unspeakable. This is “…a mystery like origami, so the reader never expects the twist behind the final fold” told from different perspectives that “gives the story a good pace” as the dark web entangles not only the Gaang, but Firelady Mai and Princess Ursa back in the Fire Nation, the soon-to-be re-coronated Kuei, and the endearing employees of everyone’s favorite tea shop. “Like literary quicksand,” the “intrigue continues to abound” and it “drag[s] people in.” It will leave you in stitches and in tears (just ask SifuHotman!). “This is not high-quality writing,” claims ARG, “This is genuine writing art.” Next on the agenda is a completely imaginary interview with me conducted by moi — Interviewer: How does it feel to see your baby turning one? Wordbender: Wonderful! Amazing! Unbelievable! ‘Air’ has been my guilty writing pleasure for years. I hadn’t intended to publish it, and I’m so happy that I did. I: What would you like to say to your fans? WB: To put it simply, they rock my socks off. They are awesome people who deserve the absolute best story I can give them. I love you guys, and keep reading! I: Air is currently at 52 chapters. What would you say to those who might hesitate to undertake such a long story? WB: It’s worth it. Just ask any of my readers. The only complaints I’ve ever received is that the chapters are too short and there are never enough. In fact, my readers would probably tell you that starting now would be ideal –more to read, less wait-time. I: ‘Air’ is your first fanon. What do you like best about the fanfiction genre? WB: I love playing with someone else’s characters. It’s awesome to climb into their skin and imagine how they’d act. But the best part by far is taking one of the extremely minor characters who you always wished had had more involvement in the series and giving them a major part in the story. I: Who is your favorite character? WB: That’s a toughie. Zuko and Mai have always been favorites and I have loved developing their characters further, but Ursa is quite near and dear to my heart. I: What about your favorite chapter? WB: Another impossible question! To date, probably ‘The Life and Times of Toph Bei Fong’, since it tackles the unresolved relations of the Bei Fong family. It’s a pet peeve of mine that this has yet to be addressed in canon. I: Is there anything you think potential readers should know? WB: I like messing with your emotions. My favorite episodes are the insanely hilarious ones and the gut-wrenchingly tragic ones, and my story reflects that. To the hundredth power. Corny jokes are kind of my thing. Oh, and I’m obsessed with ‘Zuko Alone’. You should definitely know that. Phew! Now that we have that out of the way, I’d like to applaud some of my wonderful readers, because I’m certain they are the most awesome on the planet. Air was lucky enough to catch the attention of two wonderful users right from the get-go; Mageddon725 and AvatarRokusGhost, I’m looking at you. Without their support in the beginning, Air would not be what or where it is today. Many thanks to you, my friends. I’m glad our virtual paths crossed. I must also thank the continued and vocal devotion of SifuHotman, Indygirl96, LotusontheLake, Kikiwikia, Ystjhinjry, Rana2001, King Bumi’s Heir, Luuk, and An anonymous contributor. (Yes, anon; you. All of you.) May the comment fairies continue to bless you with such refined wit for your kind devotion. And what would an anniversary be without a celebration? It’s time for a BONUS CHAPTER RELEASE! In addition to the Tuesday chapter, there will be another waiting anxiously for you all on January 9th. Happy Air-iversary, dear readers. (Yep, I’m going with it.)
Heyo, everyone! Agent Slash here! I'm here today to talk about something that has been on my mind lately. Now, I'm sure everyone here is familiar with post-war fanons. Yes, these fanons deal with the life of the gaang after the war and contain characters from the show. However, there is a problem with these fanons nowadays: nobody reads them! This is a major problem for people with post-war fanons, as this gains them less readers than a fanon with original characters. Now, the most important aspects of a fanon are the plot and how well it is written. There are quite a few post-war fanons that have these things, but are being criticized for simply being post-war fanons! I do not believe that simply because a fanon has characters that were not in the series means it is not readable. I saw a poll recently that confirmed this as well. People think we have enough post-war fanons and are not willing to give newer ones a chance. I say that as long as the story is written well, and the plot is interesting enough to you, any fanon, be it original or post-war is readable. All I ask is that more readers give post-war fanons a chance. Authors of them should not have to suffer simply because the plot and some of the characters are not original.
Hello fanon writers! We at the Fanon Fact Finders would love to read your fanons and interview. Seriously, we're down to three members and dying out, we need something to do. It's easy, just go to the main page and put your name down under one of our few members. We'll put one of the interviews in the WLS or the BSST. Well, this is Snip101 signing off telling you to sign up. |
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